Wofford defense smothers Winthrop in 62-56 victory

Saturday

Dec 21, 2013 at 11:26 PM

By TODD SHANESYtodd.shanesy@shj.com

ROCK HILL — Winthrop players could barely breathe in the first half Saturday, and not because of the exhaust fumes lingering from a mascot-ridden motorcycle on the court during pregame.It was because of the Wofford defense.The Terriers smothered the Eagles until intermission, continued to build as much as a 20-point lead in the second half and held on at the end for a 62-56 victory at the Winthrop Coliseum."I'm excited for our team," Wofford head coach Mike Young said. "We beat a darn-good Winthrop team in here today. To come in here on their home floor and win is great for this Wofford team."Wofford (4-7) had a 31-13 lead heading into the final minute of the first half and was up by 15 at the break. The Terriers held Winthrop (6-4) to just 22 percent shooting (5-for-22 overall, 0-for-7 on 3-pointers) in the first 20 minutes."We've been practicing really hard on defense and have even tried to bump it up a few notches each day," junior guard Karl Cochran said. "Everybody is dialed in. We're looking out for one another. It's not just that you have the guy in front of you. We're looking right and left. We're five players out there and we're going to play like five players."Winthrop went an astounding 21 straight possessions without a field goal in the first half. The Eagles were 0-for-13 shooting during that stretch and only had a few good looks at the basket. Wofford forced 12 turnovers (finishing with 22) and made seven steals (on the way to 13)."We have the mentality on defense that we need to make it hard for our opponents," sophomore Spencer Collins said. "We had a lot of energy and it really helped us out."Collins, from Easley High School, led Wofford with 19 points. Cochran added 13 and junior forward Lee Skinner had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Winthrop did not go away easily, however. The Eagles, down 57-37 with four minutes to play, turned up their own defensive pressure and went on a fast run to make it 60-54. Skinner, who is among the Southern Conference leaders in free-throw percentage, was 4-for-4 in the final 16 seconds to help seal the deal."I felt pretty comfortable up there. I told my teammates that I wanted to shoot those and to get me the ball if they could," Skinner said. "… We knew they were going to fight to the end. So we just had to stick together."Winthrop made a charge at the start of the second half to cut Wofford's lead to 10, but Collins helped provide an answer to the challenge. He scored on a driving layup into traffic, made a steal and did it again, then stole the ball again and drove before dishing off to Eric Garcia for a layup that gave the Terriers a 45-27 advantage."We got a couple of stops and popped it right back," Young said. "Spencer had four points in the first half and didn't look like he had his typical sharpness. In the second half, he was Spencer Collins and played very, very good basketball."Wofford is on a break until a Dec. 30 home game against High Point. The Terriers will begin Southern Conference play Jan. 2 at Samford and then at home Jan. 4 against Davidson.